Free Online Resources Aid Anti-Fraud Initiatives

Organizations around the world lose an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenues to fraud, according research by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). What better time to focus on fraud within your own organization than this week -- which happens to be International Fraud Awareness Week.

To aid in the fight against fraud, the ACFE has posted downloadable tools and information, including a Fraud Prevention Check-up, Fraud IQ Quiz, and a variety of presentations focused on fraud prevention and detection. The resources area available at no cost at www.FraudWeek.com (click on the Anti-Fraud Resources tab); no registration is required for access.

In the organization’s 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, the ACFE study reveals facts and figures that may sober any IT security professional:

• Fraud schemes are costly, with median losses caused by the occupational fraud it studied of $160,000. That’s just the median; almost one-fourth of the fraud caused losses of $1 million or more.

• Like some malware and viruses, fraud can make several months -- sometimes years -- to detect. In the ACFE study, the median time to discovery was 18 months. One great way to find fraud: tips from your workforce.

• Occupational fraud is a global problem. Though there are differences by region, most of the characteristics of perpetrators (and the anti-fraud controls meant to stop them) are similar no matter where the fraud occurs.

• Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to occupational fraud because they generally don’t have anti-fraud controls in place as larger competitors do.

-- James E. Powell
Editorial Director, ESJ

Posted by Jim Powell on 11/09/2010